The use of self-dispensing water containers has become a common widely-adopted alternative to the use of water dispensing machines with bottled water. These containers are generally in the form of a semi-rigid packaging made of a synthetic material such as PET (polyethylene-terephthalate), PP (polypropylene), HDPE (high-density polyethylene) etc. The disadvantage with these materials is that the mechanical strength provided is fairly low relative to the amount of synthetic material required to make a container.
Accordingly, current containers or bottles are made having significantly thicker walls and/or reinforcing structures such as bulges, stiffening ridges or the like. The inability to fill a container almost completely also requires that more material is utilized in order to provide reinforcement for the bottle. Unfortunately, these features result in the increase of weight of the containers, and the amount of material required and complexity of the design increases the cost of manufacture of the containers. In addition, due to the rigidity of the container, once the container is empty, it remains bulky and is difficult to crush and dispose of the container for waste or recycling.
Due to the lack of mechanical and/or hydraulic/internal strength of current containers, the containers often require the use of additional external packing or support structures or extra materials particularly during transport or storage in supermarket shelves or within a home or building to keep the containers securely stored.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome or substantially ameliorate the disadvantages of the prior art by providing a stackable container for storing and/or dispensing liquid which provides a means for using less plastic and eliminating the requirement of external packaging by utilising internal liquid pressure to provide strength for the container.